


"Your presence is foreign, as strange to me as a thing."

by thesunmetmoon



Series: One Hundred Love Sonnets [8]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - A Darker Shade of Magic, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Miss Peregrine, Alternate Universe - Neverwhere, Invisibility, M/M, Portal - Freeform, Portalbending, power
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26812651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesunmetmoon/pseuds/thesunmetmoon
Summary: Thinking, tangling shadows in the deep solitude.You are far away too, oh farther than anyone.—It is not his portal's accuracy's fault that Soonyoung and Jihoon end up in the other world. It is Wonwoo's doing to begin with (and Jun just happens to be there too, he swears).
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Wen Jun Hui | Jun
Series: One Hundred Love Sonnets [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1310171
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	"Your presence is foreign, as strange to me as a thing."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. This is the eighth fic for my compilation of short stories I wrote on Twitter. I hope there is no heavy mistake since this is not beta-ed as always. Title is from Pablo Neruda's One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII. Please enjoy.

"Jihoon, wait for me!"

"You're too slow, Soonie! We're gonna miss the movie, come on!"

"You're gonna— _gasp_ —kill me— _wheeze_ —wait, wait, _wait_ , don't we have like— _pant_ —better idea?"

Okay, Jihoon _had_ to halt because of what Soonyoung had just said.

"Oh no, you don't."

Soonyoung rested on a random wall. Finally granted a break, he made use of this opportunity to normalize his breathing, sucking in air as much as he had lost before.

"I do. This is what my power worth for."

"No! Uncle said it's dangerous for you!" Jihoon retorted.

"My dad knows no shit," he clicked his tongue at his cousin’s warning. "I'm perfectly fine."

" _Soonyoung, no_."

He merely grinned, "Make me, Jihoonie."

By the time Jihoon finally noticed, they were both already hovering above a mysterious, gaping hole on the ground. A portal door, quickly opened by the wielder’s command. Jihoon knew he had to prepare for that falling feeling, gravity ready to kick his guts violently.

And so they fell.

**_THUD!_ **

" _OOFF—_!"

"Ouch, my back... Get off me, Kwon Soonyoung! You're fucking heavy!"

"Rude!" nevertheless, he ignored his own pain to scoot away from Jihoon.

If you had not realized it yet, yes, falling from nowhere was Jihoon's _least_ favorite way to travel, but apparently, his dumb cousin begged to differ. Soonyoung was a lazy _fucking_ ass because he loved his power so _fucking_ much. Instead of waking up at 5 AM to take the train to school, he opted to sleep until the very last minute, then just transported himself to the small public park beside the school.

"I told you not to use your power carelessly!" that fucking little shit made Jihoon's back sore, _ouch_...

"But it's convenient!"

"It uses your life force, goddammit Soonie!"

"BUT IT'S CONVENIENT!"

"FUCK YOU, I'M DONE WITH ALL THIS!"

Jihoon turned around, stomping angrily towards the cinema. But as he stepped inside, he sensed a peculiar atmosphere. Funny feelings were all tingling inside his stomach, setting off his instinct alarm so loud. The old interior, the slightly deteriorated wallpaper; it was the same cinema all right. Nobody was there. Yet, all the machines were working fine just like usual. The popcorn maker popped some corns. The drink counter pressed soda into each container. The cash register dinged, opened swiftly to flutter away some cash to the air—

—wait, what the fuck?

The cinema was alive without any human.

"Jihoon-"

"I know, Soonie."

This was not _their_ cinema.

This was the _other_ cinema.

"Oh, a customer from a land far, far away. I've been waiting for you. Welcome."

Abruptly, they turned their heads. A tall man with a curly hair and a monocle was smiling genuinely at them. He looked like any other human being, but Jihoon knew better, as his vision could see the inside of that flesh and bones. The man was _definitely_ not what he seemed. He clutched Soonyoung's hand to warn him without exchanging words.

"Junhui, where's your manner? Come greet these boys."

All of a sudden, the floating money was dropped and Jihoon could feel a ghostly kiss against his cheek. He shivered, before opening his mouth to protest.

"What the fuck-?!" his hand scrubbed his cheek violently.

The tall man sighed, "Not like that, Junhui. _Geez_. How many times should I told you that our normal greeting here is a sexual harassment up there!"

_Here? Up there??_ Jihoon and Soonyoung looked at one another. It was Soonyoung who made a shocking _'oh-my-god-is-this_ -' face first.

"Is this...perhaps...Lower Seoul?" he asked with uncertainty.

The tall man gave Soonyoung a look of disgust. He was not even trying to mask it. "Oh please, we hate that term. It makes us look like living in a sewer. We prefer to call our home as Neverwhere. A very new, trendy term, even better than The Underworld. It was too grim after all."

Soonyoung glanced at Jihoon, who only shrugged his shoulder.

"But I like The Underworld more. It gives the suspense. Besides, it’s suggesting to people up there that we work with the God of Death or something, thus we are to be feared,” out of nowhere, a voice was heard. Both boys shook their heads furiously, searching for the source. The voice then laughed. "It's me, boys. Junhui."

"Where are you then?" Soonyoung asked.

"Here. Beside this cute little one whose hair smelled like morning coffee that I love so damn much."

"Wha—" next thing that happened was that Jihoon frantically punching the empty space beside him and surprised when he actually hit something solid. He swallowed his bewilderment to yell at the invisible man. "DON'T STAND NEAR ME AGAIN!"

"OKAY, OKAY! Wow, _feisty_. You're cute when you're angry, tho," the voice snickered.

"Junnie, don't. They're our precious guests," the tall man clicked his tongue.

_Guests_. So they were expecting them? Soonyoung rubbed his chin softly as he was lost in his own thoughts. "I just don't get how my portal can be that off course...," he pondered. “It never happens before. My portal’s accuracy is almost 99.9% all the time. I know about it. I trained years for it.”

"Ah, I bent it."

Soonyoung blinked. The tall man didn't even change his laid back demeanor while looking back at him.

"You _bent_ it?"

"Yeah."

"…… _How_?"

"Okay. Though long, I will explain it to you two. But first, let me introduce myself. Again, welcome to Neverwhere. I'm Wonwoo, the mayor's son. And this is Junhui, my childhood friend."

"Pleasure, cuties,” the invisible man actually winked, but of course none of them saw it.

"Also, this cinema is mine, so feel free to be here as long as you want. And, please, be seated,” the tall man then conjured some comfortable chairs out of nowhere for all of them to sit on. Along with the chairs, checkerboard cookies and cups of tea were floating around them like a bunch of fireflies.

"Uh...can we have those cola and popcorns instead?" Soonyoung pointed at the refreshment corner of the cinema.

"Certainly."

A flick of fingers and cookies became a huge bowl of popcorns. Cups of tea became paper glasses of cola.

"Wow, that’s awesome. And so convenient."

The tall man beamed sincerely. "Why thank you, Mister...?" he asked.

"Ah, Soonyoung. I’m Kwon Soonyoung. This is Jihoon, my cousin. Just call us by our name, though, no need to use ‘mister’ or anything," he laughed as Jihoon nodded.

"Very well. Nice to meet you two. Okay, let's get to the point. I'm sorry I bent your portal, Soonyoung, but I need your help."

"Help?"

A smooth pop and a piece of paper came flying down among them. It stayed vertically like a wall projection to make it easier to read.

"A map?" Jihoon frowned.

"My father, the mayor, gave me this. I'm his next in line so, basically, his position will be descended to me. But he insists that I fulfill the tradition first, as he himself passed the tradition before becoming the mayor. Something about everyone’s acknowledgement or some sort,” that tall man, Wonwoo, snorted.

"So... umm, this is, like, a _test_ for you?"

Wonwoo pointed at Jihoon, "Exactly."

"Then what about this map?"

"It seems there's this thing that I need to seek to obtain the position I deserve. He said to me, if I ever felt someone up there opening a portal, just bend it and make him come here. He'll bring with him another someone who will help me decipher these codes that I would encounter along my journey."

The four of them went silent.

"Wow...,” Jihoon finally exhaled. “Are we like, Legolas or sumthin’..."

"Oh, oh, please let me be the one who shout _'_ YOU SHALL NOT PASS!', Hoonie!"

"Okay, but he died tho."

Junhui laughed at their banter. Wonwoo, too, smiled. Seemed like these boys were used to bizarre events around them, huh?

"So, is that a yes?" Wonwoo’s tone was hopeful.

"Wait,” Jihoon interjected him with his logic. “We can go back, right? To our world?"

"You can. Soonyoung has the door. But I lock it right now. And the key will be given to you after our journey ends."

Jihoon rolled his eyes, "Basically, you keep us as _hostages_."

Wonwoo grinned at that.

"So? Yes or yes?"

"YES!" Soonyoung shouted.

"Ugh, fine..."

"Aww, don't be like that, Jihoonie. Our journey will be awesome," Junhui cooed.

"Who the hell gave you permission to call me that??"

"Great!" ignoring the two, Wonwoo stood up and held his hand out. "Nice to work with you, Soonyoung."

"Me too, Wonwoo."

Soonyoung shook his hand solidly.

"FOR STARTERS, CAN YOU KEEP THIS FUCKING INVISIBLE GUY AT LEAST 20 FEET AWAY FROM ME, I THINK HIS FUCKING INVISIBLE HANDS ARE GROPING MY NOT SO INVISIBLE ASS RIGHT NOW—"


End file.
